As part of the SLTA’s strategy of collaborating with other industry trade organisations, chief executive Paul Waterson accepted an invitation to present at the recent Scottish Wholesale Association conference at Crieff Hydro – and he didn’t pull any punches.
ATTACKING those who drink responsibly is tantamount to prohibition – that was one of the hard-hitting messages from SLTA chief executive Paul Waterson in his keynote presentation to the Scottish Wholesale Association.
Speaking up for Scotland’s on-trade, he told a captivated audience, is rewarding but not always easy. “Seldom since 1880 have we had to defend the interests of our trade on so many fronts,” he said. “We have always been a key part of Scotland’s social, economic and political scene and with that comes attention from many different quarters.”
Waterson referred to the “whole question of Scotland’s uneasy relationship with alcohol”. He said: “Continual government involvement in our business, the transformation, through price, to home drinking, and the constant demonisation of alcohol means that hardly a day goes by without some new media story, highlighting some new initiative, being brought forward by some expert from somewhere that will help, ban or stop some problem in the licensed trade – and there are plenty of so-called experts out there.”
The licensed trade, he pointed out, had to deal with those who believe that to “take one drink is alcohol abuse”.
“There are those who say there should be no licensing controls at all and commentators on everything in between,” he added. “We are told by some experts that drinking should be limited, with the aid of tokens or credit cards, to three drinks a day; that people should not be permitted to buy each other rounds – apparently this is a big problem!
“Others say that wholesaling of alcohol should be controlled by government and not by business.”
Looking at the other side of the argument, he said: “We have those who believe there is no place in a ‘free’ market for licensing laws, for rules and regulation – they believe self-regulation and education is the answer. Let the market decide who should open, when and where.”
Voice of reason
Waterson continued: “The answer, of course, lies somewhere in the middle. But the battle lines are drawn and the chasm between the two is getting wider. We all have to realise that not everything said by health groups is wrong – but neither is everything said by our industry.
“When used moderately alcohol is an asset to society but it can be a very dangerous product when abused. Therefore, it is completely correct that the sale and supply of alcohol is regulated and controlled through the licensing regime, and that the various laws, rules and regulations arbitrate in the difficult balancing act between the need for control and the need for flexibility to allow businesses to grow and flourish.”
The SLTA’s track record over many years illustrates support for balanced, practical, measures to curb alcohol abuse and raise standards, Waterson pointed out. He reiterated both the SLTA’s support of legislation to introduce a minimum price for alcohol, and the veto on multibuys and irresponsible promotional activity in both the on and off-trades.
“Below cost selling is simply an invitation to abuse alcohol,” he told the Scottish Wholesale Association. “Irresponsible promotions seduce people into drinking faster and drinking more than they would normally.
“We also support measures to restrict the amount of licences in an area. It is overprovision and over-competition that leads to cut pricing and the resultant reduction in profits, leading to a lowering of standards and lack of reinvestment.”
Acknowledging the need for flexible, enhanced police powers to deal with operators in contravention of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, Waterson said: “We put forward the idea, with others, for the introduction of premises and personal licences and the mandatory training of PLHs and, indeed, of all bar staff.
“We now have over 50,000 fully trained PLHs in the country,” he confirmed. “This training is a major step forward in giving us and our staff, who must have a least two hours’ training before they step behind a bar, the knowledge, confidence and ability to look after our customers efficiently and within the law.”
He added: “We actively support the introduction of the 125ml wine measure and welcome the increasing use of measures such as schooners, serving less than the traditional pint – and we fully endorse the Best Bar None scheme which helps improve standards in premises.”
SLTA members, Waterson reminded his audience, also support, on a voluntary basis, Pubwatch schemes and local licensing forums across Scotland. “I believe this approach, supporting genuine balanced, practical, targeted initiatives to raise standards and help deal positively with our country’s often strained relationship with alcohol, gives us the platform to criticise – with integrity – measures which are there simply to further an anti-alcohol, anti-pub agenda.”
According to Waterson, the pendulum has perhaps swung too far one way. “We trade in a business that since 2009 has had to understand and work with five new pieces of primary legislation, 40 new regulatory instruments and 35 different local licensing policies.”
Quoting a very prominent licensing lawyer’s comment at a recent conference, he said: “We are drowning in a sea of legislation – it is an absolute minefield.”
Waterson suggested that the anti-alcohol agenda was illustrated succinctly in January when the Westminster government, under the advice of health professionals, lowered the recommended weekly alcohol consumption levels from 21 units for men and 14 units for women to 14 units per week for both.”
Giving the SLTA’s negative criticism of this some context, he took his audience back to 1987 when units were first drawn up by the Royal College of Physicians which found that illnesses such as liver disease and heart attacks were linked to excessive drinking. “But when faced with defining safe guidelines they hit a roadblock,” said Waterson.
“The committee’s epidemiologist David Barker conceded ‘it’s impossible to say what’s safe and what isn’t’ because ‘we don’t have any data whatsoever’. But panel members thought they needed to make some sort of recommendation. So they came up with the concept of alcohol units.”
Waterson continued: “A quote in the London Times by panel member Richard Smith tells all. ‘So these limits were really plucked out of the air. They weren’t really based on any firm evidence at all. It was a sort of intelligent guess by a committee.’
“So thanks to unrelenting propaganda from many anti-alcohol campaigners and others, these units have erroneously become the benchmark for safe drinking, despite being ‘plucked out the air’.”
Provoking laughter from the audience, Waterson added: “The last word on the new unit reduction guidelines, which incidentally are the lowest in Europe, comes from Sir David Spiegelhalter, professor of risk at the University of Cambridge, who said: ‘These guidelines define low-risk drinking as giving you less than a 1% chance of dying from an alcohol-related condition. An hour of TV watching a day, or a bacon sandwich a couple of times a week, is more dangerous to your long-term health.’
“You will be in real trouble if you watch two episodes of Coronation Street while eating two bacon rolls and have a 250ml glass of wine!”
Drink-driving legislation
Waterson also touched on the effect of the new drink-driving legislation, which is unique to Scotland, has had on the industry, pointing out that the SLTA has always urged against a reduction in the limit from 80mgs of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mgs. “We believed that it would not deter people who drink and drive habitually,” he said.
“This is borne out by the fact that the vast majority of those caught recently are two and three times over the limit. We argued and still do that the overwhelming majority of the population respected the 80mgs limit – we have the safest roads in Europe.
“However, in Scotland, our government decided to reduce the limit. But our problem lies in the fact that Holyrood has no jurisdiction over the drink-driving penalties – that was reserved to Westminster. So with very small amounts of alcohol in the bloodstream those convicted of a drink-driving offence under the new limit will receive a 20-year criminal record, at least a year’s ban, perhaps a prison sentence, a fine, and all the other sanctions that someone who was clearly unfit to drive received.
“It’s a bit like driving at 35mph in a 30mph limit and being automatically banned for a year and being given a criminal record.”
Waterson suggested that the new lower limit appears to be in harmony with those in mainland Europe. “However, any such harmonisation is completely superficial,” he said. “The penalties in other European countries are generally calibrated to the level of offending. These may include a reduced or no disqualification from driving and reduced fines for breach of the 50mgs level.
“No such calibration has been carried out here which is manifestly unfair. Attacking those who drink moderately is tantamount to promoting prohibition.”
The consequences for many premises, especially those in rural locations, are as obvious as they are severe, he continued. “Northern Ireland are changing their limit and their penalties – Westminster should allow us to follow their example.
“There, if someone is stopped and exceeds 50mgs but is under the 80mgs threshold, the fixed penalty will be £100 and three penalty points – surely a fair and reasonable penalty calibration.”
The Scottish Wholesale Association heard that despite these problems the “resilience of the business is still there for all to see”. The trade, said Waterson, continues to develop and change positively. “If the yardstick for our success is improvement in on-trade drinking environments the range of premises we have on offer to our customers, the quality of products and services we provide, and the expertise of our management and staff then we are very successful indeed.”
With some 1.4 million people visiting licensed premises at least once every week, the economic, employment and social benefits of the sector are also clear. “The gross value added to the economy annually by the licensed trade in Scotland is around £1.5 billion, and we contribute £900 million in tax receipts.
“The industry employs directly over 43,000 people, 40% of these being under the age of 25. These jobs are very often located in rural areas where we are the only employer.
“We also play an integral role in the Scottish tourism industry,” he continued. “A recent VisitScotland survey shows that 58% of all tourists said they had eaten in a pub, and this figure rose to 71% of overseas visitors.
“Our pubs and bars, then, are a key visitor attraction – they highlight our national heritage and local culture and are surely the best tourist information centres around.”
Collaboration
Paul Waterson, who has been an independent judge for the Scottish Wholesale Association’s annual Achievers awards for several years, highlighted the importance of collaboration. “I am consistently impressed by the efficiency your sector achieves and we can learn much from the way your businesses are run, especially in terms of flexibility and attention to detail,” he told the conference.
“The Scottish Wholesale Association can continue to work with us and help in convincing our governments to change the business framework we work in – and top of the list must be a change in the way our pubs and bars are rated.
“It is ludicrous that we are rated on turnover – on average, our rates are calculated at 8.75% of our gross turnover. Only by our associations working together on rates and other important issues, including a VAT reduction, can we bring more stability and confidence back to our businesses and through that contribute more to yours.”
Earlier, Waterson outlined the history of the SLTA and explained how, in October last year, it set out a three-year programme of change to modernise the association with a new brand identity and revamped website to reflect a fresh approach and renewed focus on industry engagement.
Find out more about the Scottish Wholesale Association. www.scottishwholesale.co.uk